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Seven Prayers
that Changed the
World and Can
Change Your
Life

The Prayer of the

Triumphant Church
Acts 4:23-31

Acts 4:23-31
When they were released, they went to their
friends and reported what the chief priests and
the elders had said to them. 24 And when they
heard it, they lifted their voices together to God
and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven
and the earth and the sea and everything in
them, 25 who through the mouth of our father
David, your servant,[d] said by the Holy Spirit,

Acts 4:23-31, continued

Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed[e]
27 for

truly in this city there were gathered

together against your holy servant Jesus, whom
you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

Acts 4:23-31, continued

28 to

do whatever your hand and your plan had

predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look
upon their threats and grant to your servants[f] to
continue to speak your word with all boldness,
30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs
and wonders are performed through the name of
your holy servant Jesus. 31 And when they had
prayed, the place in which they were gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of
God with boldness.

Prayers that Changed the World

and Can Change You
1.

Lord, I trust you with the details of my life. Bless me

according to Your will and plan.

2.

Lord, my heart is hungry for You. Show me Your glory.

3.

Lord, contemporize my faith for today. I commit my life

into Your hands for You to use now.

4.

Lord, make me holy through Your Word. Your Word is

truth.

5.

Lord, I commit my heart to passionately pursue the

center of Your will in my life.

6.

Lord, teach me to look past my challenges and find my

sufficiency in Your grace and in Your grace alone.

The Early Church

Here, in

these earliest days of the church, is

where we all return to see the purity of the
Christian church in its infancy.

In

these earliest days we see the church at its

most innocent and purest state.

Key characteristics of the unity of the early

church: Passion, Purpose, Purity, Praise, Power,
Perseverance, and Proclaiming all of this amid
persecution.

This Prayer in Acts 4

Was

prayed together meaning that the Spirit

led the church to this common prayer.

In

this prayer we see the spirit of the church as a

composite, combining biblical knowledge,
passionate commitment, brotherly love, bold
ministry, vision, and faith.

We

are not told exactly how they achieved this

singularity in prayer, except by the fact that the
Spirit led them to it.

The background

Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, If we

are being called to account today for an act of kindness
shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,
then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but
whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands
before you healed(Acts 4:8-10).
After further threats they let them go (Acts 4:21).

In this prayer we find

The

Overwhelming Awareness of the

Sovereignty of God nothing can oppose
Him, 4:24-26
The Utmost Confidence in the Person and
Work of Christ He is the Savior of the
world, 4:27-28
The Unlimited Surrender of their lives to
the Work of Christ, 4:29-31
Lord, Set us on fire for You!

1. The Overwhelming Awareness

Gods Sovereignty, Acts 4:24-26
Sovereign

Lord, despota in the Greek,

(despot English and German) the idea of
absolute rule and authority. God has no one
above Himself to whom He must give an answer
or to whom He is accountable.

He

is answerable only to His own heart.

Three

thoughts here about Gods sovereignty:

He creates, He speaks, He counsels

Simeon blessed the infant Jesus,

Luke 2:25-35
Now, despota or Lord,
let thy servant depart in
peace (Luke 2:29).

This old devout servant

knew that God was
sovereign over all
creation.
What Simeon alone
knew, the entire Church
now realized!

Since we have a sovereign God,

how should we act?
Response

of Praise expressing the

confidence we have in God.

Response

of Perspective banishing fear from

our hearts.

Response

of Proclamation sharing the good

news of the Kingdom with the world.

Response

of Puzzlement why does the world

reject Christ?

2. The Utmost Confidence in

Christ, Acts 4:27-28
Christ

was the anointed One prophesied and

foretold in Scripture.

Earthly

powers conspired against Him and put

Him to death, sought to discredit Him.

This

This

was done only by Gods permission

was done by Gods plan They did what

your power and will had decided before hand
should happen (Acts 4:28).

The Christ of the cross

The

redemptive act of
God to save humanity.

display of His
sovereignty and His
love. The remedy for the
sin of the world.

church on fire is
passionately committed
to the proclamation of
this gospel!

3. The Unlimited Surrender of their

lives to Gods work, Acts 4:29-30
The

same Sovereign Lord was active in their

lives and in their midst.

The

same world that had rejected and crucified

Christ was the world in which they lived.

They

were a persecuted church and they

prayed for boldness, healing, signs, and
wonders.

The Gadarenes in contrast to the

church (Luke 8:26-39)
Jesus

healed demoniacs in
that region more than
once.

The

people pleaded with

Jesus to leave, however,
because they were
overcome with fear.

The

church on fire asked

for more of Gods work.

3 Reactions to miracles
Fear!

I dont like them! (Gadarenes). To

them miracles repel.

Envy!

I want to do that! (Simon Magnus). To

them miracles trip them up or distract.

Faith!

I want to know the One who cares like

that. To them miracles lead them to want to
know the compassionate Christ.

The church on fire prays for

Boldness

the courage to take a stance

Compassion

they see the needs around them,

the people who need healing, and even their
own hearts.

Signs

movements of God that appeal to the

mind.
Wonders

movements of God that appeal to the

imagination.

How do we measure our faith?

Acceptance: Which

is
more important, Gods or
the worlds?

Passion: Do

we care?

Understanding: Do

grasp Gods truth?

Wonder: Do

we

we ever stop
and stand in awe of the
work of God?